Syllabus: 

GS3: Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment.

Context: 

Recently, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has come up with the first monthly bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of 2025. 

More on the News 

• The NSSO launched PLFS in April 2017 to track labour indicators like LFPR, WPR, and UR through quarterly bulletins. In 2019, NSSO merged with CSO to form the NSO.
• Earlier, MoSPI released rural PLFS data annually and urban data quarterly, with an annual report combining both. 
• The first monthly estimates by NSO use the CWS approach, based on activity in the seven days before the survey.
• Basically, PLFS collects data in two ways — Usual Status (US) and Current Weekly Status (CWS). Within the usual status, the survey respondent has to recall their employment details from the last one year.
• While in the CWS approach, the estimate of the labour force is derived by considering those who worked for at least 1 hour or was seeking/ available for work for at least 1 hour on any day during the 7 days preceding the date of survey.

Key Highlights of the Bulletin

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) among persons aged 15 years and above was 55.6%. 

• LFPR in rural areas was 58.0% and LFPR in urban areas was 50.7% during April, 2025 for persons of the same age group.

• LFPR in CWS for males of age 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were respectively 79.0% and 75.3%. 

• LFPR among females of age 15 years and above for rural areas was 38.2%.

• In comparison, the male LFPR stood at 75.3 per cent in urban areas and 79.0 per cent in rural areas.

• The Worker worker-population ratio (WPR) in CWS in rural areas among persons aged 15 years and above was 55.4%. 

• WPR in urban areas among persons of the same age group was 47.4% with the overall WPR at the country level observed as 52.8%. 

• WPR for females of age 15 years and above for rural and urban areas were respectively 36.8% and 23.5% and the overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was observed as 32.5%.

• Unemployment Rate (UR) in CWS in among persons of age 15 years and above was 5.1%. The male UR was a touch higher at 5.2% compared to the female UR of 5.0% at the country level.

• In urban areas, the unemployment rate stood at 6.5 per cent, while in rural areas, the unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above was recorded to be 4.5 per cent.

• Females saw a higher unemployment rate at 8.7 per cent than 5.8 per cent for males in urban areas. In rural areas, however, the unemployment rate for females was lower at 3.9 per cent than 4.9 per cent for males.

The objective of the revamped PLFS 

The revamped PLFS is envisaged to address the following objectives: 

• To provide monthly estimates of key employment indicators, Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio, and Unemployment Rate, for rural and urban areas across India using the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
• To expand the PLFS quarterly results to include rural areas, enabling quarterly estimates at the national level and for major states using the Current Weekly Status (CWS).

Significance of PLFS Reports

• The PLFS offers data on various metrics to help policymakers gauge the share of people seeking work, those unable to find jobs, gender disparities in employment, and wage patterns. 
• The PLFS shows the sector-wise distribution of workers, such as the share in agriculture, and records the nature of employment, including casual labour, self-employment, and regular salaried jobs.

Key terms 

• Employed: As per MoSPI, under the usual status approach (with a 365-day reference period) used by the NSSO, a person is classified as employed if they were engaged for a relatively longer duration in any one or more work activities during the past year.
• Unemployment Rate (UR): Unemployment denotes a situation where individuals who are willing and able to work, and possess the necessary skills, are actively seeking employment but are unable to find suitable job opportunities. Such individuals are considered part of the labour force but remain without gainful employment.
• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): It is the share of the population engaged or seeking to engage in economic activities, including both employed and unemployed individuals. Under the CWS approach, it reflects the average number of such persons in the week before the survey, expressed per 1,000 persons.
• Worker Population Rate (WPR): Under the CWS, the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) is the number of persons who worked at least one hour on any day during the reference week. MoSPI defines it as the number of persons or person-days employed per 1,000 persons or person-days.
• Work Force: Individuals involved in any gainful activity are classified as ‘workers’ (or employed). They fall under one or more of the nine activity categories within the broad classification of “working or employed.”